Author's
Note: Another in a series of little ficlets based on my characters in
Feral Through the Looking Glass. Feral intends to return a favor to
his lover, Jericho.

He
glanced at his watch again and gritted his teeth. He had a promise
to keep but there had been one emergency after another today besides
the required meetings and he'd been chained to his desk for the
last few hours.

Staring
at his desk filled with reports, he rubbed his face. His lover never
asked anything of him and that made him feel bad. This was an
important moment for Jericho and here he was bogged down with work.

Suddenly
he froze, wait a minute, he was the boss here and yet he allowed his
work to take precedence over his life. When he had no personal life
due to his physical problem, he hadn't minded and it had become a
habit but now his physical problem was cured and he had a lover and
a life outside this office. Allowing his job to take over was no
longer acceptable.

"Time
to take my life back!" He said aloud. He checked his watch again.
"I can make it if I hurry."

He
shoved the reports needing review into a less than tidy pile, locked
up the more sensitive documents then rushed to the coat rack, grabbed
his coat, pulled it on, and paused outside his office long enough to
tell his secretary he was gone for the afternoon, then walked swiftly
toward the elevators, buttoning his coat.

As
soon as he reached the lobby, he raced through the doors to his
hummer parked on the street.

In
minutes, he was quickly threading traffic heading for Megakat City
newly constructed Museum of Modern Art. Jericho had been commissioned
to design the soaring and unique center.

Today
he would be receiving an award from the Architects Association for
Architect of the Year Award. It was a much coveted prize and
Jericho was the youngest to have ever received it.

Feral
arrived at the new building only to find there was no parking.
Growling under his breath, he circled the block yet again and
finally, decided to use his prerogative as Chief Enforcer to park in
a no parking zone.

Locking
his car, he hurried to the entrance. A stage had been set up near
one wall with a curtained off area. A podium was at the center but
no one was there yet. He sighed in relief....he was in time.
Carefully pushing his way through the crowd of high society types,
news people and security, he finally managed to get close to the
stage.

The
guards there, preventing outsiders from getting to the back area of
the stage, eyed Commander Feral in confusion and concern.

"It's
alright. No emergency. I need to get back there though." Feral
said lightly.

"Oh,
sure. Go right ahead, Commander. Glad there's no problems. Don't
need any of those omegas showing up." The senior of the two guards
said in relief.

"Fortunately,
it's not something they'd be interested in. Thanks." Feral
told them with a small smile then quickly went up the steps and
disappeared behind the curtain.

A
small group of people were clustered around waiting for the event to
start. Members of the Architects society, Dr. Sinian was on hand,
Mayor Manx and Ms. Briggs, and over in a corner waiting patiently
surrounded by his friends.....was Jericho.

Smiling
to himself, he slipped in behind everyone, keeping a low profile
which was difficult considering how tall he was but managed to avoid
having those who knew him stop him from getting to Jericho.

His
lover and his friends were facing the stage so didn't see him.

"Why
isn't your lover here, Jerry?" His best friend Brian huffed.

"He's
busy, you know that. It's not important for him to be here."
Jericho said serenely.

"What
do you mean not important?" His friend Steve squeaked angrily.
"It's only the most important thing in your life!"

"I
still say he isn't in love with you as much as you are with him."
Brian said darkly.

Jericho
sighed. "Guys, we love each other. I've tried to tell you this
but you just don't seem to believe me."

"Because
you've been hurt before by some asshole who said he adored you then
left you, that's why." Brian huffed again.

Before
the golden tom had to, yet again, defend his lover, Feral had heard
enough and moved forward to wrap his arms around Jericho, depositing
a kiss on his head.

"Hello,
my love. So glad I was able to get here in time." He rumbled
warmly.

Jericho
made a sound of joy and turned in his lover's arms. "Ulysses!
Oh, I'm so glad you could too." He gushed happily and kissed
Ulysses firmly.

Feral
sighed and returned the kiss with ardor. 'Kat's Alive! How much
I care for this tom. He is soo wonderful to me and I've never been
happier.' He thought joyfully. He really didn't blame Jericho's
friends for being suspicious. Actually, he was grateful they were
such good friends and cared for the golden tom so much. He hoped he
would be able to overcome their fear that Jericho was going to get
hurt from him. Only time will tell.

Suddenly,
they heard Mayor Manx begin to speak. Feral released his lover,
straightened Jericho's shirt, giving him another nuzzle before
letting him go.

After
all the speeches and a description of the purpose of this new museum,
Jericho was called out. He walked gracefully across the stage to the
loud cheers and clapping of the audience. He blushed and waved as he
moved to the podium.

Mayor
Manx, the head of the Architects Association and the new director of
the museum gave short speeches then Manx handed Jericho a beautiful
plaque.

Jericho
gave a nervous little speech of gratitude then made a surprising
addition to his thank you.

"I
am so grateful to my close friends for standing by me when I needed
them. My most important thank you goes to the one who recently
stepped into my life and gave it new meaning. Because of him, I was
able to dream up this beautiful building for all of you to enjoy.
Thank you, my love. You are my inspiration and my life. This award
is as much yours as mine." He said, love gleaming in his eyes as
he gestured to Ulysses to come out and stand by him.

Feral
blinked in shocked surprise. Jericho was declaring their love before
all these people. They had kept their relationship low-key but it
was obvious his lover wanted everyone to know. For just a second he
hesitated. This would expose his sexual preference, but he hadn't
really cared about that. What did scare him, was his enemies would
know how to get to him through Jericho.

Was
it worth the risk? As he stared at his lover's smiling and hopeful
face, a brief look of concern beginning to flit in his
eyes......Feral realized, his enemies would eventually find out
sooner or later. He couldn't hide his lover under a rock and
wouldn't want to.

Taking
a deep breath, he stepped onto the stage and walked up to Jericho and
warmly wrapped a possessive arm around his waist. Jericho's smile
amped up to mega wattage and it made Ulysses feel like ten feet tall.

Flashbulbs
went off and the audience roared in amazement. Those that knew him
were stunned. The audience were divided, some cheered, others went
silent, while still others looked a bit disapproving. Feral didn't
care, Jericho was the single most important thing in his life and
that's all that was important to him.

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